Taste in Merton

These young people are fabulous, they are learning on the job, they are polite and professional when in service.The food is absolutely wonderful presentation is spot on and the dishes are interesting, have been twice already and will definitely continue to support as often as I can as I live locally

This is a restaurant based in South Thames College in Merton. The students are learning on the job. They run various events during the year. The College serves lunch daily and two evenings a week, you can dine in the Taste restaurant. Bearing in mind these are students learning/training on the job; you will get the odd mistake. The food is worthy of any Michelin starred restaurant. The presentation is beautiful, the food - sometimes what seems odd pairings is excellent. I would recommend a visit to see for yourselves.

We met friends for a Christmas get-together and had a very pleasant evening. The food was very good and well presented, and the staff were professional and courteous. We will use the restaurant again.

A little gem of a restaurant run by staff and students from the college. You are greeted by fun friendly staff and the professionalism is immediately apparent. The level of service and standard of cooking is beyond any expectations. If you are ever in the area and they are open don't miss the chance to go and dine there. I especially enjoyed the view of the kitchen and all the students and staff interacting giving us a unique insight into how a restaurant is run!

We are spoilt having this wonderful restaurant in our local area! Although the menu usually has only 3 items to choose from for each course, it is still hard to make up one's mind which item to have as each one sounds so appealing. Today, my family enjoyed the traditional Sunday roast beef as their main course, but I can also recommend my choice, the lemon sole. All dishes were beautifully presented and of high quality and the students worked hard under tutor, Amy's caring and watchful eye. Portions are not huge, although more than enough for us. We like the fact that the tables are not too close together and the room is spacious, clean, light and airy. It is set back from the main road so there is no traffic noise at all. Nor are there any noisy children running around the tables. Thus, one can have a relaxing time with one's family and/or friends. On a practical note, it is very convenient that one can park easily right outside or, if one is using public transport, there is a bus stop outside, too. We sometimes use 80 bus to/from Sutton or Morden. I can highly recommend a visit here soon, knowing that you will be warmly welcomed.

This visit (a group from U3A) was certainly exciting! We had to evacuate the restaurant twice in about fifteen minutes. Apart from that, we had a Spanish tapas menu, the constituent parts of which were generally very tasty, Unfortunately it seemed how to serve it had not been thought through, with some tables being asked to choose from the menu and others being brought some of everything (but two plates of three portions for a table of seven didn't work!). The table that had been asked to choose weren't given anything for a long time. Don't want to be too critical as the students involved did a magnificent job of dealing with the problems, and we had a thoroughly splendid time. Well done to all of them.

Have used Taste twice for our church ladies' Christmas dinner and the food was delicious and the young people serving were extremely attentive to our needs.

We decided to explore the new Friday buffet at the college and it was a great success with students learning their trade whilst we enjoyed a fish salad and meat cold starters, duck, poached egg fried (runny centre) as well as ham hock, canelloni or ratatouille vegetables. Followed by a range of babas, mini lemon tart and crepe Suzette. A cool bottle of Sauvignon completed a delicious meal.

We enjoyed our visit to this restaurant which is situated on the Merton campus of South Thames College. We had the special Xmas lunch with some delicious courses and our group especially liked the celeriac soup, the cèpe risotto and the pancetta and herb cod. For those who favour traditional food, turkey with all the trimmings and Xmas pudding were also on offer! All of this is cooked by students who also provided very attentive service. So if you are still looking for a special Xmas lunch with colleagues or friends, give Taste a go! Well done to all the mentors and students!

We have been here several times now and never been let down. The staff are freindy and helpful and the food is away great.

Disfrutamos del almuerzo buffet el viernes pasado y que representa un valor increíble en £10.95 por persona por tres campos (además de segundos!). Es genial para apoyar a estos estudiantes que será claramente michelin michelin del Reino Unido - chefs del futuro. Bien hecho a Amy y a su equipo por esta fantástica oportunidad para que el público aprenda acerca de lo que hacen. ¡Volveremos!

We had a great three course meal at Taste and everything was just perfect, the service, the food, everything. For a restaurant run exclusively by students with just a few teachers to oversee the action this was outstanding. You would be hard pressed to find anything similar at the same price range in London. Great night out!

1st time tried restaurant and was very impressed. Very fancy menu with some unusual elements. Obviously they use good ingredients as both the asparagus starter and the roast beef were very good. Good value.

This is the second time I have visited the restaurant, sadly for me, the meal I had, had no wow factor for me this visit. The soup was very sweet, and the rice balls with the main dish added nothing to the meal, they were bland and tasteless, and very doughy. Last time I came they gave me a fruit salad as a diabetic option for the dessert, which was a work of art in its presentation, sadly the one I got on the 3rd March looked as if it had been thrown in the bowl. As they had plenty of notice for a diabetic dessert, I am surprised they couldn't offer something other than fruit salad, which in itself has hidden sugar.

This restaurant is a great idea and shows what talent young students have. I recently had a 3 course meal for £20 here and the food was superb. The service was excellent and the students were knowledgable but showed great character. I would definitely recommend and will be going back myself!

Such a great idea! Happy to give my business and support to the talented and keen students at Taste restaurant. The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. Perfect! It's a shame it's not open more often!

Note: This Restaurant is based in South Thames College (Merton) and provides an opportunity for the students to test their skills on the paying public.A return visit for us (see previous review), this time with friends who were equally impressed with the quality of the food and standards of service. The restaurant was full to capacity on Wednesday night for one of the rare evening sessions. It was great to see (possibly) the next generation of restaurateurs coping well with a full service and whilst they don't always get it 100% right, the errors are small and offer great 'real life' learning for them.Our waitress was attentive and friendly and obviously a little embarrassed when she dripped red wine on the colleges nice bright white linen table cloth!! A couple of elements / pointers to consider for the future would be to ensue correct cutlery is available before delivering the plates of food and to remember diners orders, rather than arriving at the table with 5 plates and asking who ordered what. To be fair this was probably more of a co-ordination issue as our nominated waitress was not the one delivering the cooked food.The food was well worth the price and whilst not all prepared to my personal taste it was a tasty and enjoyable meal - served on hot plates when appropriate ( I wish all restaurants did that!!) - that I would have been happy to receive in any restaurant.Because of the nature of this 'restaurant' the evening menu is limited but you get to see it in advance if you are on the mailing list, so your options are clear before you decide to book.Over simplifying the starter options you could choose either Ravioli or Pearl Barley Risotto. Both very good with the Ravioli just coming out on top. For our Mains we could choose between Lamb, Pork or Pasta. All good, but with Cannon of Lamb winning (only because the Pork Belly had a crispy crumb topping rather than a crispy top) and for dessert Tonka Bean Panna Cotta or Chocolate slice with salted caramel and ice cream. Chocolate won hands down - superb! All this followed by Tea / Coffee and 'Little Treats'. The wine list is not exhaustive, but well put together and priced well. Beer and Soft Drinks are available. I understand from Amy (who oversees the students) that they will be opening for evening service once every 6 weeks from Sept so they will be a few more chances to get along. If you live in and around the College I would seriously recommend you try it.

Just had a great lunch prepared by talented and passionate students on their way to being amazing chefs. A good atmosphere, décor and exemplary service followed by a well presented and beautifully balanced meal, all freshly baked and cooked (the lemon and herb bread was still hot !) The cost was competitive and the service attentive and friendly - great work South Thames College - we wish you every success !

Taste Restaurant is within South Thames College (Morden) and opens its doors to anyone who wishes to use it. Open for lunches primarily but on selected days you can sample (often) great food prepared by the up and coming chef's being trained at the college. Amy Taylor keeps a watchful eye over them, but they needed little supervision that I could see.So the trick is to get yourself on the mailing list and watch-out for these evenings.Went last week to one of the five course Christmas 'sessions' which was great. Service is also provided by the young people training and if those I met are indicative of the others on the team you wont go far wrong. They were attentive (but not too much), friendly and impeccably turned out an knew about the menu and wine list (not exhaustive, but very well priced).The environment is modern and even when not full the atmosphere is fine, with background music and nice lighting. The food our party had was really good. Tasty and well presented and very important in my eyes - served nice and hot. Menu options are limited, compared with a full-on restaurant, and you may be asked to pre-order. But options not so limited that you wont be able to find something you like I'm sure.Some great little touches included the home made bread, palate freshener between courses and linen serviettes (which got picked-up and re-folded when you left the table).So keep an eye out for the evening sessions and go and maybe go and see the next (?) Jamie Oliver in action. NB: Parking is free just outside the restaurant (evenings only) and the restaurant itself is at the extreme left of the college building - i.e. Church end.